Almost daily diary!

Sunday, May 11, 2008

Me and my big mouth.

Our' very nice computer man' who sorted out our router, called again last night. He is quite a shy man, very quietly spoken but not at all 'geeky'. He had bought a gizmo thingy with him so I made him a cup of tea and pottered about while he set about installing it for us.

After a while Husband came down, having put Small Sprog to bed. Small Sprog was taking ages to settle, it was hot and bright outside and he wanted to come down to see 'The man'!

Installation didn't take very long, so when the 'very nice man' had finished we sat about for a chat. Talk turned to technical stuff (as it would) and he started to tell us how you could attach a camera to your system, to make a web cam, which you could use for security purposes. 'You can access the pictures from another computer and see what is going on at home' he said. I think I looked less than impressed!
'It's quite useful' he insisted. 'I set one up at home so that I could see what the dog was up to.'
The dog...the dog?! Well, my imagination kicked in straight away with that line!
'Were you checking up which Internet site he was using?' I quipped, giggling 'Were you making sure he wasn't on 'inappropriate web sites'?!!'
I couldn't stop myself, it was Saturday night and I was feeling a little silly. I was imagining the said dog, bottom on the office chair, paws on the keyboard .....you can imagine the rest yourself! Laugh! Well, I chuckled away...

Then Husband, catching the silliness, proceeded to prance around the room David Brent style with a little 'wooof' dropped in for good measure! (I know, the mind boggles, but by now we were both caught up in the moment) 'Or he might spend the day dancing' he chuckled, still bouncing!

I think it dawned on both of us at roughly the same time that the 'very nice man' was not joining in!!! 'Did the system work well?' I said trying to pull myself together and be sensible.
'Yes,' he replied in his reserved sort of way, 'my dog was quite ill and I needed to keep an eye on him while I was at work. I only lived around the corner, so if there was a problem I could monitor him or rush home'.
That sobered me up! 'Oh' I back peddled somewhat, 'I'm so sorry, that's sad. Was he OK?'
'Oh, well, no', said the 'very nice man', 'He died.'

If I hadn't been standing in my own living room at that moment, I would have wished the ground could open up and swallow me! Where was that system restore button when you needed it, for goodness sake?

A little more small talk ensued as we all walked slowly to the front door. We started saying how sorry we were and wasn't it awful to lose an animal, and 'They're so much part of the family aren't they?'

At the door we solemnly said our good byes, shutting the front door finally. Poor man.

Guiltily we walked back into the living room, very quiet....without uttering a word!! That place where the gaping hole should have been was still there.

17 comments:

BS5 Blogger said...

Oh but Sub, what will the 'Very nice man' post this night on *his* blog, we wonder?

'I had a heckuva call tonight at a house in BS9; great people and an easy installation with a reliable bit of kit, but they went off one one about dogs using the internet....'

Who knows?!

Hope you had a top weekend. Mine was fantastic and M.S.B contributed to it.

:)

Anonymous said...

Oh dear!
I'm afraid I put my foot in it once in a while and always feel awful.
As regards weather here - it has been pretty cool.
Only about 80'F - have not yet worked out centigrade.

Maggie May said...

Oh eeeeeek! We all get moments like that, don't we? You were not to know!

Suburbia said...

BS5 That is what I'm worried about!

Hi Elizabeth, thanks for coming over. I'm not good at converting either, but almost the same temp here I think.

Maggie, that will teach me though!

Barbara said...

Oh Heck!!!! so easily said, but you couldn't have guessed why he was watching his dog, it could have been a puppy!

scargosun said...

OMG! That is classic. I am imagining you guys dancing around while he just stares in abject horror. He he he.
BTW, a Blackberry is a mobile phone/PDA/webaccessable piece of technology. It also has a camera phone so I can take pics as long as I have it with me.

Nora said...

All kidding aside, I would love to have a camera to see what my dog is up to and a microphone to talk to him to see how he would react to that voice out of the ether. I would make him crazy and say, "Do you want a cookie?" or some such nonsense as that.

Brett said...

Priceless, sounds like a sketch from the 2 Ronnies

XXYXX said...

Oh Subbie darling, just let the guilt fly away on the wings of self-forgiveness, or dig an escape tunnel to freedom in the grubby paws of the mole of indifference.

The Spotlight Effect suggests that The Very Nice Man hardly noticed your crass, cruel, mocking insensitivity {is this helping?}.

We all think people notice our oafishness, our bad hair, or your dress tucked into your knickers (a la Hullabalovely).

But actually, they don't. So now, you can relax ... or fret about your existential insignificance to others. {I'm pretty sure this is a help}

Liz Hinds said...

Oh my gosh!!! That is hilarious! Well, not for him obviously. Tee hee hee.

Suburbia said...

Starnitesky, yes it could have been a puppy couldn't it! I feel better now!

Scargosun.....Oh THAT sort of Blackberry!! Silly me, I have this thing about food you see ......!!

Nooortje, poor dog! That would be teasing!!

Brett, hmm that's my life!

Anonymous said...

I'm so sorry but I don't think I have laughed this much for ages! You and your husband sound exactly like my husband and I. :o)
I wish I had been a fly on the wall to see you all dancing about and woofing! :o)

MissKris said...

Well, this little ditty I'm about to tell you isn't funny but I had a co-worker years ago who was supposed to call for overdue bills. One was a few months in arrears and our boss told her to tell the man he'd better pay NOW! So she got on the phone and got rather nasty with the man. When she stopped talking, he apologized all over himself. He was busy grieving, you see. He'd come home one day from work and found his wife dead at the kitchen table. She'd choked to death on a bite of sandwich that lodged in her throat. He said his mind hadn't been on his business but he'd be sure to send a check off straightaway. Poor Tina, my co-worker, felt about as low as a slug. She backpedaled all over herself, apologizing to HIM! Argggghhhhh. One of those "Open mouth; insert foot" moments. Happens to us all, doesn't it?

carolyn said...

WHOOPS! I can imagine we would have been very much the same here at Willow House, I no doubt would have been making wise cracks about the dog having hi/her mates round and raining the booze cabinet!
Honestly some people just haven't got that "gallows" sense of humour.

Kitty said...

Awww, poor man. Poor dog. Poor you. It happens - and anyway, it made splendid blog-fodder didn't it? ;-) x

Suburbia said...

Bobo - I am insensitive and insignificant! I love it when you talk therapy to me!!

Liz, I got all your comments today!!

Hi Daffy, thanks for visiting.

Misskris, I think I make a habit of it.

Hi Carolyn, exactly!

Kitty, you're right, at least I had something to write about!!

Jules said...

That Bobo. He has a way with words, doesn't he?

Sorry for your ooops moment. But take heart. Your husband was in on it too, so you can share the guilt. There. Made you fell better, right?

And to convert temperatures.... divide by 2 and subtract 30. So 80 degrees would be 80/2 - 30= about 10 degrees. Hot any way you put it.